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Buying a Netbook @ Best Buy
underdonk
__BANNED USERS regular
__BANNED USERS regular
Being in the market for a netbook, I went to Best Buy and found the Eee PC 1000HE I had been thinking about picking up. When I told the sales person (the manager in this case) I would like to buy one, he handed me a Geek Squad "New Computer Setup" contract with a huge list of services on it. I told him I wouldn't require any services, I just wanted to buy the netbook, he informed me that I must fill out the blank contract with my information and sign at the bottom of the form. I told him again I was just trying to buy the netbook and wouldn't sign a blank services contract, making the analogy of not having to sign a contract stating I didn't want any "undercoating" on a new car that I might be purchasing. I was told "no laptop leaves the store without having one of the contracts signed". So I left, went across the street, and bought the netbook at Target. They didn't ask me for any personal information or make me sign any blank contracts. Can anyone tell me what this business practice accomplishes for Best Buy? Do people really sign blank contracts and include all of their personal information? I feel that this is similar to shopping at Radio Shack "back in the day" when you had to jerk off in a cup just to buy an eight pack of AA batteries.
Also, technical content, has anyone thrown Ubuntu Netbook Remix 9.04 on this model? Any problems besides the one official issue noted on the Ubuntu website (sound recording stutters when pulseaudio is running)?
EDIT: I'm not affiliated with, nor have any interests in, Best Buy or Target. Just a consumer.
Also, technical content, has anyone thrown Ubuntu Netbook Remix 9.04 on this model? Any problems besides the one official issue noted on the Ubuntu website (sound recording stutters when pulseaudio is running)?
EDIT: I'm not affiliated with, nor have any interests in, Best Buy or Target. Just a consumer.
Back in the day, bucko, we just had an A and a B button... and we liked it.
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I question whether you got the actual HE.
Interesting. I wonder if the sales manager's bonus (or some such benefit) is tied to the number of Geek Squad contracts he gets inked... regardless of the number of dollars gathered through those contracts. Kind of like a goofy loophole sales thing that he is trying to exploit for his, or his store's, benefit.
The version I got is indeed the 1000HE with the Atom N280 processor - the real 1000HE.
There shouldn't be any trouble with the Ubuntu remix, but why not just put straight ubuntu on there?
Just want to give the netbook version a try, as I've heard good things. I'm honestly not a huge fan of Ubuntu (given my needs), and this is basically my way of giving it one last shot before I shun the distro for good. I will probably end up installing the full version of F11 on the system (which I hear runs with no issues in it's current form) when it's released.
To the best of my knowledge, manager/supervisor bonuses are based on profit, not on a rather silly metric like filled out forms. At my store in particular, we go through sufficient enough forms that we are forced to just use photocopied sheets rather than the carbon-paper stuff quite often, and the photocopied sheet is usually in the customer's hands when it leaves the product leaves the store, making any sort of tracking of that highly unlikely.
Edit : Also, the dude you were with sounds like a general tool. We're rather heartless about pushing shit at my store, but never that assholish.
Hey, I know! Let's not consult any release notes or compatibility lists before installing! Especially this one, which was mentioned right next to the download link. And if it Ubuntu doesn't work properly despite publishing an official compatibility list which I won't read? I shall shun it forever!
I admit to being somewhat hypocritical about this.
That's actually the documentation I was referring to in the OP. I've already looked at the list. Besides, I have plenty of other reasons why I don't like Ubuntu. :P
That's certainly what it's beginning to sound like. Thanks for the info from the source.
Ugh. I'm glad they haven't run any good sales recently. With all the liquidations it's either BB or the random mom and pop shops still left trying to sell 1GB sticks of ram for eighty dollars.
Also speaking as a Geek Squad employee, the reason you were asked(or made) to sign it was because of the amount of times someone will return to the store with a virus and cry foul that they were never given an option for optional services such as anti-virus installation. When that paper is signed and filed, it's something we have that says "you knew about it, you didn't want it". I know it sounds silly, but it's a daily occurance in some stores.
I know car anaologies and computers lol, but... wow.
Having worked in IT for the past 14 years, I can definitely understand that train of thought. However, as an informed consumer, I simply can't sign a blank contract and give up a bunch of personal information simply to buy a product that isn't "controlled" in anyway, such as a firearm (which is funny, because when it comes down to it, you can do far more damage with a computer than you can with a gun). If there were a box to check on the contract stating that I didn't want any services, that would be better, but I still don't see the need to give up my address, phone number, etc. simply to buy a computer. I also understand that I'm in the minority as an informed consumer, and most people wouldn't bat an eye at signing the blank contract, which is why Best Buy can get away with it. So, I simply choose not to do business with Best Buy.
Also, this.
2 Computers running that 3D Text screensaver. One displays "Non-Optimized" and has it set to a slow speed. The other says "Optimized" and they cranked up the speed on the screensaver.
FUCKING REALLY?!
They aligned the chakra flow in the hard drive with rare earth magnet massage therapy
Actually I would pay good money for that.
But a man's gotta eat, so...
My favorite stunt is the demo on the TVs showing the difference between 120Hz and non-120Hz. I'm sorry but faking a video and putting it over the stream isn't going to convince me. Putting two same-model TVs side by side running the same sports game with the feature on/off? That's a little more legit than a video that just intentionally fuzzied half the screen.
PSN: TheScrublet
this makes me lol
so what the hell is involved in the $129.99 optimization anyway? I work for a competitor and hardly anything we do is that expensive.
"My computer's fast. Finally! Finally fast!"
PSN: TheScrublet
PSN: TheScrublet
I've found that hhgregg easily beats their prices on TVs, FWIW. I didn't mean for this to turn into a BB hating thread. I promise.
EDIT: BTW, the HDD died in my 1000HE. Argh. I guess we'll see how good the Asus technical support is.
No, they actually don't. Right off the bat, H.H.Gregg doesn't sell high end TVs. At all. I just did a quick check on their site, and currently they are only selling last year's models on Samsung and Sony. They don't even stock Panasonic, and they don't stock any of Sammy or Sony's higher end models. The only reason H.H.gregg appears to have lower prices is because they only sell shitty TVs. And, on the models they actually carry that are good enough for Best Buy to carry, Best Buy actually does still beat them.
Correction: they stock one Panasonic. But almost all the TVs are off-brand. Though strangely they are promoting the 65" Sharps, of all the high-end TVs to have. In any case, the point here was that say what you will about Best Buy, but I have never found their prices beatable at a retail level without extenuating circumstances (CC going out of business, the economy driving everyone to desperation last Christmas, etc.)
PSN: TheScrublet
Best Buy > HH Greg because they stock higher end TVs and the salesmen are not on commission and don't have any real incentive to sell you other crap like cables and whatnot, aside from looking like better employees to their supervisors.
Also - the $129 service is a standard security and performance package which includes the cost of software (generally the $60 verision), the installation of said software ($30), and the optimization ($40).
"My favorite stunt is the demo on the TVs showing the difference between 120Hz and non-120Hz. I'm sorry but faking a video and putting it over the stream isn't going to convince me."
I've never seen this at any store. It is honestly easier (and more ethical) to stick the same TV side by side with the feature turned on or off. They do this with their examples of calibrated vs. non-calibrated units and you can see the difference if you knoiw what you're looking for.
I wouldn't say H.H.Gregg's business went downhill. Best Buy has established itself in the consumer mindset as the best consumer electronics store. No one does close to the business they do in the market. So H.H.Gregg, Wal-Mart, etc. snap up the lower section that Best Buy isn't willing to support. Circuit City tried to stay in Best Buy's playground, but they screwed some things up and now they're gone. And while I don't expect H.H.Gregg to stock the highest-end TVs (Samsung/Sony 52" LCDs at $3500+), I expect them to be selling this year's models, or at least providing better discounts on last year's shit that they have on that site.
PSN: TheScrublet
If you can't sell accidental damage warranties with college bound laptops, you fucking fail as a salesman and deserve to get fired. That is all.
This is coming from someone who worked himself through a few years of college selling computers.
Who here knows about their customer categories? It was basically a rule of thumb for trying to sell to people a certain way based on their economic status (which was subtly suggested by race/ culture in their guide pamphlet.